County Council Visit democracy.buckscc.gov.uk for councillor information and email alerts for local meetings BUCKINGHAMSHIRE HISTORIC Agenda ENVIRONMENT FORUM

Date: Thursday 5 March 2020

Time: 2.00 pm

Venue: Mezzanine Room 3, County Hall,

Agenda Item Page No

1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE / CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP

2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST To disclose any Personal or Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

3 MINUTES 3 - 10 Minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2019 to be confirmed.

4 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

5 HS2 UPDATE Nick Shepherd, Historic Environment Manager, HS2 Ltd.

6 BUCKS CONSERVATION TRUST - UPDATE ON Update from Mike Woods, Buckinghamshire Conservation Trust.

7 UPDATES FROM PARTNER AGENCIES

7A NATIONAL TRUST

7B BUCKINGHAMSHIRE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT PARTNERSHIP

7C COUNTY MUSEUM

7D MILTON KEYNES COUNCIL

7E BUCKINGHAMSHIRE ARCHAEOLOGY TEAM 11 - 38

7F CONSERVATION OFFICERS 7G BEACONS OF THE PAST

8 UNITARY UPDATE Update from David Sutherland, Head of Planning & Environment, and Eliza Alqassar, Environment Manager.

9 FUTURE OF THE BHEF AND THE EMERGENCY RECORDING FUND Open discussion.

10 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

11 DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING 10 September 2020, 2pm. Mezz 3, Council Offices, Walton Street, Aylesbury.

If you would like to attend a meeting, but need extra help to do so, for example because of a disability, please contact us as early as possible, so that we can try to put the right support in place.

For further information please contact: Anne-Marie Kenward on 01296 382236, email: [email protected]

To all Members of the Buckinghamshire Historic Environment Forum

Bill Chapple OBE, Buckinghamshire County Council Nick Crank, Milton Keynes Council Mike Farley, Bucks Archaeological Society Clive Harriss, Buckinghamshire County Council Hugh McCarthy, Wycombe District Council Gary Marshall, National Trust Richard Newcombe, District Council Richard Pushman, Bucks Heritage Champion Chris Welch, Historic Chris Williams, Natural Environment Partnership Agenda Item 3 Buckinghamshire County Council Visit democracy.buckscc.gov.uk for councillor information and email alerts for local meetings BUCKINGHAMSHIRE HISTORIC Minutes ENVIRONMENT FORUM

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BUCKINGHAMSHIRE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT FORUM HELD ON THURSDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 2019 IN MEZZANINE ROOM 2, COUNTY HALL, AYLESBURY, COMMENCING AT 2.05 PM AND CONCLUDING AT 4.25 PM.

MEMBERS PRESENT

Members Organisation Mr W Chapple OBE (Chairman) Buckinghamshire County Council Mr M Farley Bucks Archaeological Society Mr C Harriss Buckinghamshire County Council Mr H McCarthy Wycombe District Council Newcombe Aylesbury Vale District Council Mr C Williams Natural Environment Partnership

Officers Organisation Mrs E Alqassar Buckinghamshire County Council Mr P Clements Buckinghamshire County Council - Historical Records Officer Ms L Lawrence Buckinghamshire County Council Levitt Aylesbury Vale District Council Shave Buckinghamshire Museum Trust Ms J Wise Buckinghamshire County Council

1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE / CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP

Apologies were received from Mr N Crank, Mr G Marshall, Mr M Petchey, Mr B Thorn, Mr A Wood, Mr D Sutherland and Mr P Markham

The Chairman gave his apologies for needing to leave the meeting at 3.30pm. Mr H McCarthy would step in as Chairman from that point.

2 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were none.

3 MINUTES

The following changes would be made to the minutes of the last meeting:

3  Ms E Alqassar’s name would be corrected throughout.  Under item 7 – “Scheduled 17 works- planning applications were outside of parliament and therefore not automatically covered by the act.” o The full name of act would be included - “HS2 Schedule 17 applications for works are not covered by the Phase 1 Act of Parliament.”

RESOLVED: The minutes of the meeting held on 4 March 2019 were AGREED as an accurate record with the above changes and signed by the Chairman.

4 MATTERS ARISING

The following points from the meeting held on 4 March 2019 were discussed:

Item 5 – HS2 update, relocation of grassland habitat.  It was confirmed that the relocation site was large enough to include the requested 120% like for like replacement of habitat at just over 2 hectares. Item 7 – Quarrendon, Aylesbury, site update.  Ms E Alqassar, Environment Manager, Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC), had had no further communication about building works. Ms Alqassar would invite the Bucks Conservation Trust to report at the next meeting. ACTION: Ms Alqassar Item 13 - HBSMR-web and the archaeology web pages – query over link with Landscape First project  Ms J Wise, Historic Environment Records Officer, BCC, confirmed she had been involved with the project but had not seen the recently circulated draft paper. Ms Wise would contact Mr D Sutherland, Head of Planning and Environment, BCC, for more information. ACTION: Ms Wise

5 HS2 UPDATE

Dr D Hounsell, Fusion, gave a presentation a copy of which would be appended to these minutes.

Dr Hounsell highlighted the following areas:  Updates on the sites in C1 of the programme.  An overview of the upcoming actions for C2a and C2b sites.

The following points were discussed as a result of questions from members of the forum:  Dr Hounsell stated the long house at site C2a North Portal, Great Missenden was approximately 8m by 15m with datable material from 7th Century.  Dr Hounsell stated there would be further examination of a Roman farm at Doddershall deserted medieval village (DMV).

4  A member of the forum asked what would happen to St Mary’s churchyard in the event of HS2 being cancelled. It was felt there should be mitigation work to restore the churchyard as well as the publication of information gathered to date. Dr Hounsell would raise the issue with HS2 colleagues. ACTION: Dr Hounsell  There were concerns that HS2 had not been sharing findings with the wider public as promised. It was noted that no Historic Environment Records (HER) had been published in some time. Dr Hounsell confirmed that Fusion and HS2 were still in discussions as to what form the archive would take. Likely options were to use existing local storage authorities or to create their own central database. Following Heritage Sub Group meeting on 18 September Ms Lawrence would approach HS2 if there had been no satisfactory update. ACTION: Ms Lawrence  Dr Hounsell confirmed that Fusion would be working to a programme and did not expect there to be any changes to timescales if expected HS2 delays were formalised.  Members of the forum asked that a representative from HS2 be invited to the next meeting so questions could be addressed directly. ACTION: Ms Alqassar

RESOLVED: Members of the forum NOTED the update.

6 BEACONS OF THE PAST

Dr W Morrison, Chiltern Conservation Board (CCB), gave a presentation a copy of which would be appended to these minutes.

Dr Morrison highlighted the following:  The Chilterns LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) Portal was now online at https://chilternsbeacons.org/wp/: o The portal contained data from a bespoke LiDAR survey of the Chilterns and some surrounding areas which was now available to view online. Dr Morrison had also presented Buckinghamshire County Council’s Archaeology staff with a hard drive containing the data. o The survey was the largest LiDAR survey for archaeology purposes in the country covering 1400 km2. o The project was seeking volunteers to review data flagging potential sites of interest. Free e-learning would be provided and anyone could join.  Tier one projects: o Magnetometer surveys at Desborough Castle had been inconclusive. Natural England had been sympathetic to plans for trench work in 2020. o Work at Seven Ways Plain, Burnham Beeches, was ongoing with the support of volunteers.  Education and outreach: o The CCB were in the process of building an online portal to support teachers with continued personal development (CPD) and delivering

5 prehistory lessons. The aim was to promote the inclusion of prehistory on the National Curriculum and to provide accurate teaching resources. o CCB were working with local artists to produce work based on the LiDAR survey. o Various pop up and training events were planned.  Events: o Chilterns Walking Festival, 5 – 10 October 2019. o Aylesbury Waterside Festival 14 September 2019. o Historic Routeways Walk, CCB - 13 October 2019 o Grimm’s Ditch Walk, CCB – 16 October 2019

Dr Morrison agreed with Ms S Shave, Buckinghamshire Museum Trust (BMT), that she and colleagues would promote the Buckinghamshire Museum Trust’s own prehistory events. https://www.buckscountymuseum.org/museum/schools/our-workshops/prehistory- workshop/

RESOLVED: Members of the forum NOTED the update.

7 NATIONAL TRUST UPDATE

An update had been received from Mr G Marshall, The National Trust, and circulated as a supplement to the agenda.

RESOLVED: Members of the forum NOTED the update.

8 BUCKS NATURAL ENVIRONMENT PARTNERSHIP UPDATE

Mr C Williams, Natural Environment Partnership (NEP) gave a verbal update.

Mr Williams highlighted the following:  The partnership currently had three areas of focus: o Ensuring all local plans addressed environmental issues and biodiversity offsetting. Included commenting on local proposals such as the Heathrow expansion consultation. o The Oxford/Cambridge arch proposal. The partnership had produced a map and environmental strategy for the ARC. Their proposal was currently out for consultation with five partnership agencies and would be shared once finalised. o Project work on: . River Ouse. . Parkland garden. . Aylesbury Garden Town woodland including the planting of black poplar trees. . Reopening Milton Keynes to Bedford canal branch. . Burnham Beeches.

6 The following points were discussed as a result of questions from members of the forum:  It was confirmed the NEP and Ms E Alqassar, Environment Manager, BCC, had already spoken about the issues of pasture verses woodland and the importance of supporting the historic environment  Local Area Plans would help to identify preferred areas of development. NEP would be asking for a 20% replacement of biodiversity along with carbon offsetting for all schemes either directly or via funding.  It was confirmed the NEP would work within urban areas for example with the Aylesbury Garden Town (AGT) project. For AGT this would involve supporting the inclusion of wooded areas around the town, promoting green areas on new estates and joining green areas across different estates to form green walkways.

RESOLVED: Members of the forum NOTED the update.

9 CONSERVATION OFFICER UPDATE

Jo Horton, Aylesbury Vale District (AVDC) gave a verbal update.

The following points were highlighted by the AVDC officers:  A review of the conservation area would be out for consultation from Monday 16 September until Friday 8 November 2019.  The conservation area review had been completed. Proposed boundary changes would go before AVDC Cabinet Members at their Council meeting on 18 September 2019.

The following points were discussed as a result of questions from members of the forum:  Mentmore Towers – there had been proposals put forward for work on the tower but those were on hold. AVDC were currently working with the owner to ensure the building was watertight. There would be no further plans for restoration following the construction of the golf course.

RESOLVED: Members of the forum NOTED the update.

10 MUSEUM UPDATE

Ms S Shave, Director of The Bucks Museum Trust (BMT), gave a verbal update.

Ms Shave highlighted the following:  Current exhibitions at the County Museum included: o Buckinghamshire prehistory. o Wildlife gallery. o How people live. o A new multi media guide based on Cecily Baker, one of the first curators of the museum, had been developed. The hard launch would be in the November half term however guides were already available on request.

7  Building works to be undertaken included: o Improvements to the downstairs galleries which included the creation of a flexible learning space. Possible start date was March 2020. o Improvements in the Tudor rooms. o The wider museum would remain open during the works with individual areas being unavailable as necessary.  BMT were actively developing relationships with members of the community who might not normally use the museum. To support this goal they had been hosting events such as: o Community Iftar celebrations. o Festival of Colour celebrations. o Festival of Light celebrations. o LGBQ Pride (November 2019). o Touch tours for disabled visitors.

RESOLVED: Members of the forum NOTED the update.

11 MK UPDATE

Mr N Crank, Senior Archaeological Officer, MKC, had sent his apologies.

12 BUCKS ARCHAEOLOGY TEAM

Ms L Lawrence, Archaeology Officer, BCC, tabled a report which would be appended to the minutes.

Ms Lawrence highlighted the following:  The policy had been written in response to issues relating to a large hoard of coins found during a metal detecting rally on the Hambleden Estate in March 2019.  The policy acknowledged that BCC did not have the resources for officers to attend such events. Instead the policy would give detectorists and officers clear information about their responsibilities and the implications of failing to meet them.  The policy would be available on the BCC website and would be publicised among large groups and organisations of detectorists.

The following points were discussed as a result of questions from members of the forum:  There was concern that the policy put the onus on the detectorists to pay a private company to assess finds. It was acknowledged that some people may not follow the policy but that it aimed to balance limited resources with advising on best practice.  Officers were asked to review the terminology used to ensure accessibility. It was also queried if reference to detectorists rallies should be removed ACTION: Ms Lawrence  It was confirmed that Ms Lawrence, Ms E Alqassar, Ms A Wood, Mr B. Thorn and

8 Mr N Crank had reviewed the document which had not been published online yet.

RESOLVED: Members of the forum AGREED the policy subject to the changes listed above.

13 BUCKS AND MILTON KEYNES METAL DETECTING POLICY

Ms L Lawrence, Archaeology Officer, BCC, tabled a report which would be appended to the minutes.

Ms Lawrence highlighted the following:  The policy had been written in response to issues relating to a large hoard of coins found during a metal detecting rally on the Hambleden Estate in March 2019.  The policy acknowledged that BCC did not have the resources for officers to attend such events. Instead the policy would give detectorists and officers clear information about their responsibilities and the implications of failing to meet them.  The policy would be available on the BCC website and would be publicised among large groups and organisations of detectorists.

The following points were discussed as a result of questions from members of the forum:  There was concern that the policy put the onus on the detectorists to pay a private company to assess finds. It was acknowledged that some people may not follow the policy but that it aimed to balance limited resources with advising on best practice.  Officers were asked to review the terminology used to ensure accessibility. It was also queried if reference to detectorists rallies should be removed ACTION: Ms Lawrence  It was confirmed that Ms Lawrence, Ms E Alqassar, Ms A Wood, Mr B. Thorn and Mr N Crank had reviewed the document which had not been published online yet.

RESOLVED: Members of the forum AGREED the policy subject to the changes listed above.

14 EMERGENCY ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDING FUND

Ms E Alqassar, Environment Manager, BCC, tabled an updated copy of the protocol a copy of which would be appended to the minutes.

Ms Alqassar highlighted the following points:  The forum held a small emergency fund toward the cost of recording findings that may otherwise be lost or harmed. The fund was rarely used.  The terms of the fund would need to be reviewed following the creation of the new council, however there were no confirmed timescales at the time of the meeting.

9 RECOMMENDATION: Ms Alqassar asked if the forum whether they wished to seek a top up payment into the Emergency Archaeological Recording Fund.

RESOLVED: Members of the forum AGREED Ms Alqassar would request a top of payment be made to the Emergency Archaeological Recording Fund this financial year.

15 UNITARY UPDATE

The Chairman referred to the report circulated with the agenda and offered to answer questions.

The following points were discussed as a result of questions from members of the forum:  Ms E Alqassar, Environment Manager, BCC, confirmed relevant officers across all five councils were already working together to reflect on how they could combine their knowledge and workloads.  The Chairman confirmed that the Shadow Executive had already begun budget discussions for the new council. However there had been no decisions as to when budget scrutiny and publication of those budgets would take place. The Chairman stated that he would continue to advocate for consistent funding levels for the immediate future.  It was confirmed there would be no additional monies available from central government to support the transition including integrating computer systems. Existing local arrangements would remain in place as of 1 April 2020. Officers from across all five councils were working with the Transition Team to confirm the service’s requirements in the longer term.

RESOLVED: Members of the forum NOTED the update.

16 ANY OTHER BUSINESS

No other business was discussed.

17 DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING

Thursday 05 March 2020, 2-4pm. Mezzanine 3, NCO - Provisional. Thursday 10 September 2020, 2-4pm. Mezzanine 3, NCO - Provisional.

CHAIRMAN

10 Agenda Item 7e

Appendix A: Buckinghamshire Archaeological Officers’ Report

To: Buckinghamshire Historic Environment Forum Date: 5th March 2020 Authors: Senior Archaeology Officer (Phil Markham), Archaeology Officer (Lucy Lawrence), Historic Environment Record Officer (Julia Wise), Historic Environment Record Assistant (Paul Clements)

A. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

1 To advise the Forum of the work of the County Archaeological Service (BCAS) since the last BHEF meeting (12th September 2019).

Report Summary

 The team have worked hard to promote the archaeology service through recent talks, events and interviews. We are also improving our presence online through changes to our website and the production of a blog.  Improvements to the HER database are underway and improved public access to the online HER should be completed in spring.  HS2 Ltd: Due to purdah the next meeting of the HS2 Heritage sub Group is scheduled for March. We have been kept up to date by Fusion and a monthly update has started coming through from HS2. Evaluation works are being undertaken in a number of places including Twyford and Newton Purcell. A large excavation is being undertaken near where an interesting circular alignment of pits has been recorded. We have yet to see the updated St Mary’s project plan.  East–West Rail: We are continuing to have discussions over the documents and conditions which should be included in the Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO). Atkins supplied the Draft Heritage Delivery Strategy and we made a number of comments. We attended a meeting with Network Rail and Atkins in January to discuss project plans and a way forward was agreed. A revised Heritage Delivery Strategy has been supplied for comments.  Western Rail Link to Heathrow: We have received the Archaeological Mitigation Strategy and have made comments and asked for clarifications.  Heathrow New Runway: Discussions are progressing with HAL and a number of meetings have taken place. The most significant was in January with Historic England, Wood and the relevant County Archaeology Services. There are concerns over the current lack of evaluation and this may be an issue for Secretary of State.  Oxford/Cambridge Expressway: There have been no updates

11 B. PROPOSED ACTION

2 The Forum is particularly invited to NOTE:

 resources

 strategic issues and projects

 recent planning-related archaeological work

 progress with external hosting of the HER database and with HBSMRWeb

C. RESOURCES

3 The County’s archaeological service forms part of the Transport Economy Environment Service’s Environment Team within Environment Services. Philip Markham is the Senior Archaeology Officer, Lucy Lawrence is the Archaeology Officer, Julia Wise is the HER Officer (part time), Paul Clements is the HER Assistant and Eliza Alqassar is the Environment Team Leader.

D. SUPPORTING INFORMATION

4 Strategic Issues/Projects

High Speed 2: We continue to provide advice through the HS2 Ltd Heritage Sub-Group and the next meeting is in March. Few Schedule 17 works consultations have come through recently but we are now being invited to the monthly update meetings.

Field work has and is taking place in a number of areas and Fusion and/or their archaeological contractors supply us with draft project specifications for comment and we sometimes request minor amendments. There have been no new updates on St Mary’s at Stoke Mandeville.

The two Historic Environment Research and Delivery Strategy (HERDS) Managers, Rachel Wood and Dan Hounsell, employed by Fusion, keep us informed on works. They ensure that all field work and recording is undertaken to the same standard and format. We are being invited to monitor the work and make comments, which appears to be working well. So far there are 177 field work events completed and ongoing in Bucks. This number will rise as new sites come on line. This breaks down as:

2017 - 2019 Historic Landscape Surveys 3 Built Heritage Surveys 12 Evaluation Trench Sites 23 Excavation Areas 2 Geoarchaeological Evaluations 2

12 Geophysical Survey Areas 67

2019 – 2020 Built Heritage Surveys 6 Evaluation Trench Sites 29 Excavation Areas 25 Geoarchaeological Evaluations 7 Woodland Test Pit Surveys 1

East–West Rail: East–West Rail: We are continuing to have discussions over the documents and conditions which should be included in the Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO). To address the archaeological evaluation and mitigation issues a Heritage Delivery Strategy has been produced and comments have been made. After a flurry of sites a few months ago this project has been relatively quiet. We have recently received some draft geophysical survey results at which extends the ladder settlement to the east along Akeman Street. So far 48 field work events have been completed in Bucks, which include:

Geophysical Evaluations 33 Evaluation Trench Sites 14 Watching Briefs 1

We are expecting over 50 additional fieldwork events following TWAO; however some of these are relatively small sites such as the creation of passing places on some roads.

Heathrow New Runway: There have been a number of meetings during the last few months over the PEIR (Preliminary Environmental Information Report) and the Heritage Strategy. A position statement has been produced by the archaeology services, which has been agreed by BCC and Historic England’s Advisory Committee. The main issue is the lack of proposed evaluation. This statement is in line with the Planning Inspectorate and Government Policy. A meeting in January with Historic England, Wood and the relevant County Archaeology Services discussed the lack of evaluation and raised that this may be an issue for Secretary of State. For Bucks the largest impact is likely to be from the proposed flood mitigation sites.

Western Rail Link to Heathrow: Archaeological evaluation and fieldwork has been undertaken and a report supplied. Due to access and ownership issues further evaluation will be required following consent. We have responded to the Development Consent Order consultation and ‘issues and asks’ meetings are continuing. Part of the route is currently a mineral extraction site and excavation has been undertaken prior to each phase. An Iron Age settlement is likely to be in the next phase. We have received the Archaeological Mitigation Strategy and have made comments and asked for clarification.

Oxford/Cambridge Expressway: There have been no recent updates.

13 Chalk, Cherries, Chairs and the Chilterns Hillforts Project: These are two projects being run by the Chilterns Conservation Board. Members of the Environment Team attend steering group meetings and provide advice and we have provided financial support and HER information to both projects.

Within the Chalk, Cherries and Chairs project BCAS are most heavily involved with the ‘Mystery of Grim’s Ditch’ and ‘Routes to the Past’ projects.

New National Designations: there were no new designations between July and December 2019.

Heritage at Risk: The October 2019 Heritage at Risk register (published by Historic England) showed four buildings within Buckinghamshire to have been removed from the list. These comprise:

 Church of St Michael,  Church of St Mary,  The Queens Temple, Stowe  Temple of Friendship, Stowe

ICT Digital Data Recovery: The team (in partnership with ICT) has made considerable progress on recovering deleted reports and planning casework files following the accidental deletion of digital data in April 2018, which was reported to the March 2019 Forum meeting. This continues to be a major focus of work.

5. Planning related archaeological work

Volume measures 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter 2019 2019 Total number of consultations handled 120 137 Number of planning applications 79 105 handled Planning applications responded to 79 104 within 21 days (target 90%) Number of development-related 21 18 archaeological fieldwork projects Success rate at appeal (target 50% N/A N/A annual success rate) A full list of development-related fieldwork is provided as Appendix B.

14 Significant archaeological investigations include:

The most significant investigation currently is the ongoing HS2 excavation near Wendover where a probable Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age circular alignment of pits 65m in diameter has been uncovered. HS2 kindly supplied a plan which will be circulated at the meeting.

There has been considerable media interest over a site near (reported to BHEF in March 2019). This excavation took place in 2018/19 and we currently understand that the post excavation works required by Planning Condition will now be funded. Network Archaeology kindly supplied a photograph which will be circulated at the meeting.

6 Publication update (Appendix C)

7 Outreach and Publicity

In July we took a display on HS2 in Buckinghamshire to the Festival of Archaeology family fun day organised by the County Museum in Aylesbury and in September we helped with the BAS market stall in Aylesbury for Heritage Open Days. We gave a talk to U3A in September. In October we produced a themed display on social housing for the Bucks Local History Network Conference, and we gave a talk on Archaeology and HS2 to the Oxfordshire Historical and Archaeological Society. We gave a presentation to the Portable Antiquities Scheme meeting in London in December and we also gave an interview for Wycombe Sound.

8 Historic Environment Record (HER) report

The HER performance indicator statistics are shown in the tables below: Performance Indicator 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter 2019 2019 Historic Environment Records data Reports = 11 Reports = 12 inputting backlog Collect = 512 Collect = 512 (targets: reports < 30 by March 2020) Total = 523 Total = 524

Volume measures 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter 2019 2019 Number of Countryside Stewardship 0 0 applications handled Number of reports received by the 27 45 HER Number of Historic Environment Records enquiries handled: commercial 6 18 non-commercial 1 8

15 Countryside Stewardship Consultations The Countryside Stewardship scheme is now expected to continue for at least 2 years and probably until 2024 when a new scheme will come on stream. The 2020 application period opened in February this month but we haven’t yet received any consultations. The scheme is continuing with the cut-down consultation process initiated by the Rural Payments Agency last year as a cost-cutting exercise, as reported to the Forum last September.

HER Audit We are currently undertaking a full HER Audit, with Historic England’s Heritage Information Partnerships team. This is a grant funded project which assesses the HER against nationally agreed standards and best- practice and also involves compiling an Action Plan. The HER underwent a full Audit in 2000 and we subsequently produced Action Plans on a regular basis, however a full Audit will be undertaken on a 5-year cycle in future. The Audit will be completed in March and we will report on the results at the next Forum meeting.

HER enhancement and volunteer projects We have now formally commissioned the work to move the HER database to external hosting and upgrade the Unlocking Buckinghamshire’s Past website to new software, which we reported to the last Forum meeting. Work is currently well underway on the external hosting part of the project and we expect to start user testing imminently. The website development will follow, probably in March, April and May although the detailed timetable has still to be agreed with the software developers.

The HER volunteer working on the milestones project is currently editing the existing entries with additional information from a new source.

The Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust Research and Recording Project is continuing to make good progress with 66 reports completed, 5 report in draft and work underway on a further 8 gardens. As reported at the last Forum meeting, the volunteers are also researching artists’ gardens in Buckinghamshire, which will probably be published as a short article.

9. Emergency Recording Fund

The Buckinghamshire Historic Environment Forum (BHEF) manages the Emergency Recording Fund. The Emergency Recording Fund was established in September 2000 by BHEF. The purpose of the fund is to enable the emergency recording of important archaeological remains which are unavoidably under imminent threat of significant damage or destruction without adequate provision for their recording. The fund covers the administrative areas of Aylesbury Vale District Council,

16 Chiltern District Council, Milton Keynes Council, South Bucks District Council and Wycombe District Council. Following Unitary the fund will cover the administrative areas of and Milton Keynes Council.

Since 2000 the fund has been called upon five times. The most recent uses of the fund include the excavation of a high-status Roman casket burial discovered by metal detectorists near Whitchurch (cost c. £6k), and the excavation of Neolithic human remains in Milton Keynes (cost c.£2k). In both cases the recovery of these significant remains would not have been possible without the Emergency Recording Fund. The fund has not been utilised since 2014.

In 2001 it was agreed that contributions should be weighted depending on the size of each local authority (doubled in the case of Milton Keynes Council to reflect its unitary status). The table below shows the current contribution made by each local authority. Income is typically £1000 per annum, although occasionally the contributors have had a “holiday” when the fund has not been called upon.

Table: Size and contribution of each authority (as agreed in 2001)

Area (km2) % Contribution Contribution made 2019/20 (£) Aylesbury Vale District Council 903 20% 200 Buckinghamshire Archaeological n/a 5% 50 Society Buckinghamshire County Council 1564 40% 400 Chiltern District Council 196 5% / Milton Keynes Council 309 15% / South Bucks District Council 141 5% / Wycombe District Council 325 10% 100

These contributions will need to be reviewed as we transform into a Unitary authority. The current balance of the fund currently stands at c. £5,700 and is managed by the Environment Team.

E. BACKGROUND PAPERS

1. Archaeological Reports submitted to the Buckinghamshire HER

CONTACT OFFICERS: PHILIP MARKHAM 01296 382705, LUCY LAWRENCE 01296 674592, JULIA WISE 01296 382072 AND PAUL CLEMENTS 01296 382624

17

Agenda Item 7e Appendix 1

Fieldwork in progress Fieldwork complete Project Complete

Number Project Parish CBC no 19003 Wellwick House, Wendover Ellesborough 13691 19004 Regatta House 67-71 High Street, Marlow Marlow 12843 19006 Land South of Haddenham Airfield Haddenham 11143 19008 Grove Farm HS2 Wendover HS2 19012 Doddershall HS2 HS2 19013 66 High Street 13064 19015 Road Buckingham 12228 19017 St Mary's Church - HS2 Stoke Mandeville HS2 19018 West End Farm Buckingham 11963 19019 Proposed Country Park Stoke Poges 13557 19023 Slade Farm Hedgerley 12809 19024 Shenley Whaddon 12681 19027 Rocky Lane - HS2 HS2 19028 Leigh Court High Wycombe High Wycombe 12804 19029 King's Pond Cottage Great Missenden HS2 19030 Shepherds Furze Farm HS2 19031 Queen Catherine Steeple Claydon 13291 19032 M25 Chalfont St Peter 14192 19033 North Portal HS2 Great Missenden HS2 19036 The Misbourne School Great Missenden 13901 19037 Roman Park Quarrendon 13612 19038 The Old Methodist Chapel Lacey Green 8383 19039 The Abbey 13661 19040 Ellesborough Road Wendover HS2 19041 Denham Quarry Denham 12110 19042 C of E School, Church Lane Great Kimble 13098 19043 Longwick Road Princes Risborough 19044 Sutton Court Farm Iver 14002 19045 Burnham Quarry Burnham 19046 Vent Shaft Chalfont St Peter HS2 19048 The Spinney, Whiteleaf Princes Risborough 13889 19049 Grove Hill Farm Westbury HS2 19050 Three Bridge Mill Twyford HS2 19051 Land at Castle Street 12652 19052 Sedrup Farm Stone with Bishopstone HS2 19053 East of Bishopstone Stone with Bishopstone HS2 19054 Tingewick Road Buckingham 12228 19055 Langley Quarry 19056 Land at Stanbridge Road Haddenham 11044 19058 Newton Purcell and Manthorn Farm HS2 19059 HS2 Waddesdon Waddesdon HS2 19061 EWR B14 EWR 19064 3 The Cottages Mentmore 13791 19065 Land North of Bye Green 14185 19067 Land to rear Wycombe End House Wycombe 14068 19068 Cornwall Meadows Buckingham 12319 19070 Land at Boot Field 12458

19 19071 Denham Park Farm Denham 19074 St Mary's School Haddenham 14211 19075 Land at Brook Farm 12139 19077 Wooburn Green 14272 19078 Mill Road and Marlow Mill Marlow 14227 19079 Old Latin House Buckingham 14255 19080 Buckingham to Steeple Claydon OPL various 19081 Old County Offices Aylesbury 19082 Crown Plaza Beaconsfield 13729 19083 Land to the south of Castle Street Marsh Gibbon 12355 19084 Wilton Park Beaconsfield 12983 19085 Rose Farm Longwick 12149 19086 Land to the rear 19-21 Lower Road Stoke Mandeville 14354 19087 Aston Clinton MDA Aston Clinton 19088 97 High Street 13797 19089 Water Meadow Surgery Chesham 13542 20001 Land off Soulbury Road Stewkley 12152 20002 Annopam Crematorium Denham 14406 20003 Land off Castle Street Marsh Gibbon 12652 20004 Land at Boot Field Soulbury 12458 20005 Land rear of Station Road Quainton 13013 20006 Stowe new DTE Building Stowe 20007 Affinity Water Pipeline Amersham 14285 20008 Affinity Water Pipeline Amersham 14285 20009 Kingsbrook 9037 20010 Castle Milk Buckingham 14350 20011 Land off Leighton Road 13067 20012 St Mary the Virgin Weston Turville 14317 20013 Wellwick Farm 20017 Land rear of Station Road Quainton 13013

20 Project Complete Not Undertaken

Type Contractor FW Start DateFW End Date KDK 10/01/2019 Eval Foundations WB Heritage Network Eval Fusion 06/02/2019 CFA - Fusion 01/11/2018 22/01/2018 SMS?WB Network 11/01/2019 Eval Network 14/01/2019 15/01/2019 Eval Fusion Exc Network 01/06/2018 11/01/2019 WB Cotswold 24/06/2019 SMS?WB AS 11/02/2018 Eval Border 01/09/2018 26/03/2019 Eval Fusion 30/01/2019 Eval Avalon 30/01/2019 Eval Fusion 04/02/2019 Eval Fusion 11/02/2009 Eval TVAS 18/02/2019 Geo/Eval Pegasus Exc Fusion 01/03/2019 WB SMS/WB John Moore 09/03/2020 HBR John Moore WB Oxford 16/10/2019 Eval Fusion Eval Wessex WB TVAS 07/01/2019 18/01/2019 Geo Magnitude Geo Archaeological Solutions Wessex 29/04/2019 Fusion WB TVAS 08/05/2019 Fusion 06/01/2020 Fusion 13/01/2020 Eval TVAS 31/07/2019 Fusion Fusion SMS Network 07/05/2019 Exc WA WB CGMS Eval Fusion 13/01/2020 Eval Fusion WB AOC 17/06/2019 WB KDK 12/08/2019 Orion TVAS WB CFA 22/07/2019 16/10/2019 Exc Albion 07/10/2019

21 Exc AS 12/08/2019 05/09/2019 Eval TVAS Eval TVAS 27/01/2020 29/01/2020 WB Compass 17/09/2019 18/09/2019 WB Jacobs 01/02/2020 SMS and WB JMHS Test pits AOC 08/10/2019 09/10/2019 HBR Heritage Network Eval AB Heritage 14/10/2019 15/10/2019 Eval Cotswold 13/01/2020 Eval RPS SMS JMHS Eval JMHS 02/12/2019 04/12/2019 WB CA for RPS Eval KDK 12/02/2020 Eval Heritage Network 17/12/2019 Eval PCA for RPS 20/01/2020 23/01/2020 Test pits AOC 10/02/2020 14/02/2020 Exc TVAS WB Albion 25/02/2020 Geo WYAS 20/01/2020 21/01/2020 Network Geo AOC TT AOC Exc MOLA 20/02/2020 Eval Geo/TT Albion WB JMHS Exc HS2 06/01/2020 Eval

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Appendix C: List of major archaeological excavation projects at the post excavation stage (March 2020)

Site Archaeological Local Principal Situation Action required Contractor Planning Archaeological (Date fieldwork Authority Interest completed) Denham, Former MoLAS (2005) South Bucks In-situ Early Post-excavation The applicant is Sanderson Site DC Mesolithic assessment & updated keen to discharge occupation site project design agreed their planning and but no progress and condition and environmental new developer querying Cotswold deposits Px requirement. Archaeology has Requested SBDC now been support on seeking commissioned to compliance July 2009, complete this work. February 2011 and May 2014. Meeting with The archive has SBDC, applicant and been transferred 33 Cotswold Cotswold held on 18th from MOLA to Archaeology November 2014, further Cotswold (2014-15) fieldwork at site Archaeology, who completed April 2015. are assessing the Chased up June, July material and and September 2016 – moving forward to no response. publication. Cotswold Archaeology commissioned to Update February undertake post- 2020 – Draft report

excavation publication by April 2020 Agenda Item 7e for whole site – July 2017 Dorney Rowing Oxford Bucks CC Multi-period Draft publication reports Volume 2 is still Lake & Archaeology sites received and agreed some way off but Maidenhead November 2012. are close to having Appendix 2 Site Archaeological Local Principal Situation Action required Contractor Planning Archaeological (Date fieldwork Authority Interest completed) Windsor and Second volume (of 3) the report ready for Eton Flood Relief formally published copy-editing & aim Scheme December 2013. to start this within 3 Environment Agency Months (May 2019) pursued April 2014. Contractor pursued Asked for an August 2015 – expected update February final volume publication 2020 March 2016. Contractor chased up June, July, September and November 2016 – expected draft finalised Christmas 2016 and 34 copy editing in New Year 2017. Great Network Chiltern DC Medieval moat Report received by HER Pursue agreed Missenden, Bury Archaeology and pottery and comments sent publication of Farm (2002) production. November 2009 summary in Post-medieval Records of Bucks. barns. Network advise they will look into it 12/10/2017. Asked for an update February 2020 Site Archaeological Local Principal Situation Action required Contractor Planning Archaeological (Date fieldwork Authority Interest completed) Princes Oxford Non-planning Re-excavation Partly published in Monitor progress of Risborough, Archaeology HLF project and restoration Records of agreed timetable Whiteleaf Hill (2006) with BCC as of scheduled Buckinghamshire 2007. with contractor. client Neolithic oval Proposed publication in Contractor pursued barrow PPS – progress for update August uncertain. and October 2017, Client raised with and August 2018. contractor in 2014. Synopsis supplied Oxford Archaeology and it’s intended to chased up November get the report into 2015, June, July and PPS 2019. September 2016. Timetable agreed, with Asked for an progress report update February 35 November 2016 and 2020. draft report December 2016, with submission to PPS in December 2017. Taplow, Berry Wessex Bucks CC Early Iron Age HER reports submitted. Asked for an Hill Farm Archaeology and Roman Further mineral update February (2017) ladder extraction consented. 2020 settlement Fieldwork completed summer 2017. PXA has been supplied and comments made Site Archaeological Local Principal Situation Action required Contractor Planning Archaeological (Date fieldwork Authority Interest completed) Dormer Avenue, Foundations AVDC Saxon and Fieldwork concluded Draft final report Wing Archaeology medieval March 2016. No interim received and (2016) settlement or assessment report commented on received, despite being December 2018. assured we would Final report receive it in April 2017. expected Autumn 2019 and publication in Recs of Bucks Spring 2020.

Report to be supplied by April 2020 36

Stablebridge ULAS (2014) AVDC Roman road Fieldwork concluded Report should have Road, Aston and Iron Age Sept 2014. Draft arrived by BHEF; Clinton and Roman excavation report Recs for Bucks settlement received April 2017. article to be Final report received submitted this year April 2018. Publication work to commence summer 2018. New Road, MoLA (2016) AVDC Romano-British Fieldwork concluded Asked for an Weston Turville trackway and July 2016. MoLA update February settlement working on final report. 2020 MOLA supplied a draft report in April 2018 and comments were made Site Archaeological Local Principal Situation Action required Contractor Planning Archaeological (Date fieldwork Authority Interest completed) Oxford AVDC Iron Age and Monograph published Recs for Bucks Quarrendon Archaeology Roman November 2019. entry to be Settlement submitted early Summer 2020 Market Hill, CFA Archaeology AVDC Saxon/medieval Fieldwork completed Article for Recs of Buckingham (2015) town ditch 2015 but watching brief Bucks to be element outstanding. submitted 2020 WB completed 2016. Instructed CFA to proceed with report July 2017. Former BOCM Network AVDC Roman Fieldwork completed A developer not site, Risborough Archaeology camp/settlement 2013. AVDC associated with this Road, Stoke (2013) discharged condition application has a 37 Mandeville without consulting us. letter saying that Network will be paid to complete the outstanding works

Update February 2020 – Network provided a fresh quote October 2019 Marlow Flood Trent and Peak WDC Neolithic/Bronze Fieldwork completed Final Report Alleviation Archaeology Age site September 2017. Supplied & Scheme, Marlow approved – publication to be in Recs of Bucks 2021 Site Archaeological Local Principal Situation Action required Contractor Planning Archaeological (Date fieldwork Authority Interest completed) Chandlers Hill, Foundations SBDC Saxon Fieldwork completed Final report Iver Archaeology (Utility settlement ?September 2013. received and (2013) scheme) approved 2018. Pursue to publication. Awaiting specialist reports – hoping to pull it together in April 19.

Asked for an update February 2020 West End Farm, Network AVDC Cemetery with Fieldwork completed Post excavation 38 Buckingham Archaeology mass burials January 2019. analysis and reporting outstanding.